The present invention relates generally to treatment compositions, particularly to oral treatment compositions, and specifically to oral treatment compositions for the treatment of impaired lactation.
The swine industry suffers severe continuous economic losses as a result of impaired lactation in recently postpartem gilts and sows. Sows or gilts that do not milk freely and abundantly after farrowing deprive their newly born piglets of adequate energy resources or nutrients for optimum growth and survival. The newly born piglet has very limited energy and nutrient reserves and requires nourishment within several hours after birth with continuous daily feedings every 2 to 4 hours for the first 10 to 14 days of life. Piglets not receiving adequate nourishment through continuous nursing become stunted in the first few days of life and are subject to increased mortality. Lack of adequate nourishment, as a result of total or partial agalactia on the part of the dam, leads to weakness and starvation in the nursing young that further predisposes the newly born piglet to stunting, disease and death. The mortality rate of nursing piglets from the time of birth until weaning or during the lactation period ranges between 25 to 30 percent of the pigs born. The primary contributing factor to this high mortality during nursing or the lactation period is due to lactation failure or agalactia.
There are many factors involved in milk production, such as genetics, nutrition, management, and disease. Good swine producers take special precaution to minimize the impact of these factors as they may be related to lactation failure. In addition to the above factors, the ingredients normally found in milk have a dramatic impact on lactation or milk flow.
Normal milk contains protein, fat, lactose, minerals-electrolytes, vitamins and water. Of these milk ingredients, lactose is considered to be the primary milk ingredient which controls the amount of milk that is produced by the mammary gland. The exact biological manner in which lactose controls milk production is not totally understood; however, the main mechanism of action is through its osmotic pressure action. The positive osmotic pressure of the blood and tissues surrounding the alveoli of the udder forces blood fluid into the secretory cells of the alveoli. These cells convert the blood fluids and nutrients into milk and push the milk into the alveolar cavities which are grape-like in structure. In the normal udder, oxytocin causes a contraction of the alveolar capsules which releases or lets down the milk to the nursing piglet. The emptied alveolar capsule has a negative osmotic pressure which then again stimulates milk formation and storage. This process is constantly repeated without interference in high producing sows and gilts.
To assure maximum milk volume production and free flow to the nursing piglets, proper osmotic pressures are essential throughout the lactating mammary gland. These osmotic pressures are controlled by lactose, protein, fat and electrolytes in the milk fluid. Milk lactose being the major osmotic factor in milk is most instrumental in governing milk production and milk flow. Any factors such as edema or caking which disturb the optimum osmotic pressures will predispose the gilt or sow to agalactia or lactation failure.
Lactation failure is a complex and complicated management problem in that it cannot be attributed to any one infectious agent or single management factor. The clinical picture may vary from a simple lack of mammary gland development with inadequate milk production to severe complications of the normal udder that somehow impede or restrict milk flow and release. In most cases of inadequate mammary gland development, the secretory cells of the mammary gland are too juvenile or non-functional in their ability to convert blood nutrients into milk. The main contributing factors to inadquate mammary gland development are thought to be nutritional, genetic or hormone related.
In sows or gilts with adequate mammary gland development, lactation failure or agalactia are usually due to complications that impede or inhibit the flow or release of milk to the nursing piglet. Complications which may restrict and impinge on normal milk flow are edema, persistent congestion and inflammation. When normal milk flow is restricted, the milk is retained in the alveoli and it sets up a chain reaction that interferes with continued milk production. The retained milk through its persistent osmotic pressure inhibits the conversion of blood sugar to milk sugar. In cases where the osmotic pressure is extreme, the milk fluids are actually reabsorbed and continued milk production is severely impaired which results in drying off or cessation of milk production.
Milk retained in the alveoli serves as a rich potential media for bacterial growth. Bacteria that find their way up the teat canal and into the alveoli, flourish in the nutrients of the retained milk. As the bacteria flourish, they produce toxins and inflame the tender mammary gland. When the condition persists for several hours, the udder becomes engorged, inflamed and non-functional. This condition has been recognized as lactation failure due to MMA or Mastitis--Mertritis--Agalactia.
For sows to maintain their optimum milk flow commencing at farrowing or birth until weaning, it is essential that the sows or gilts be fed a high-energy or caloric ration which can be readily digested and metabolized into utilizable blood glucose for conversion into milk nutrients such as lactose. As set forth hereinbefore, lactose is thought to be the major osmol in milk and is considered to be responsible for controlling the volume of milk secreted. It is essential that an adequate supply of glucose be available within the mammary secretory epithelial cell for the continued formation of lactose as there is a definite relationship between reduced or lowered blood glucose levels and reduced milk flow or agalactia in the sow or gilt.
One of the primary causes of agalactia and lactation failure is intestinal stasis or constipation. Many sows and gilts encounter this problem in the farrowing crate due to lack of exercise, poor appetite and changes in management and environment. Sows afflicted with constipation or intestinal stasis immediately after farrowing, encounter impaired digestion and energy utilization in a few hours if not corrected. Sows and gilts constipated for an extended period have poorer digestion and feed utilization which predisposes the sow or gilt to hypoglycemia or reduced blood sugar. The constipation, impaired digestion and altered metabolism lead to electrolyte and fluid imbalances of the body tissues and cause reduced milk flow. This condition is commonly recognized by swine producers in the form of udder caking, mammary gland edema, reduced stool formation, and inappetence or anorexia.
Many treatments and management programs have been employed by swine producers and veterinarians to reduce the incidence and severity of lactation failure, agalactia, constipation, and udder edema in an effort to reduce piglet mortality. Bulk fibrous feedstuffs have been added to lactation rations to reduce constipation and udder edema. Unfortunately, the extensive use of these feedstuffs in the lactation ration reduces the caloric density of the ration which restricts the formation of blood sugars required for optimum milk flow. Other laxative agents have been employed in the form of potent chemicals that have a cathartic action. This cathartic action draws water into the bowel from body tissue reserves through osmotic activity. As the bowel expands with fluid, evacuation is initiated. Unfortunately, the extensive, prolonged use of chemicals leads to a chemical tolerance that requires continually higher levels or dosages of chemicals to achieve the desired response. As those dosage levels are increased, extensive fluids are lost via the bowels through the cathartic osmotic action. The continual loss of body fluid from the tissues leads to imbalances of the fluids and electrolytes which further contributes and predisposes the lactating sow to impaired milk production or agalactia.
The above treatments have been used to help alleviate the problem but the results have been inconsistent and not reliable. The lack of uniform responses has led to the use of a wide variety of management programs in an effort to reduce the mortality of piglets due to agalactia and constipation. Some management programs that have been used are restricting feed intake at farrowing time for 24 to 48 hours so as not to overload the digestive tract to precipitate indigestion. Another common practice is the feeding of antibiotics to hopefully reduce complications of bacterial infections which might otherwise result in mastitis and metritis which would further impede the production of milk. These practices have been used with some success; however, after extensive use for 10 to 20 years, the mortality rate of nursing piglets has not fallen significantly under average farm conditions.
The corrective actions employed to date, i.e., feeding of fibrous feedstuffs, use of chemical cathartics, antibiotics, and restrictive feeding have not significantly reduced the economic losses from agalactia to the swine producer.
Thus a need has arisen for a composition for the treatment of impaired lactation which overcomes the disadvantages of prior treatments while achieving reduced mortality rate in nursing piglets.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel composition for the treatment of impaired lactation.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel lactation treatment composition which is administered orally.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel lactation treatment composition which can be fed to mammals which are pregnant or lactating.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel lactation treatment composition which can be continuously fed without reducing caloric intake.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel lactation treatment composition which helps maintain the proper osmotic pressure of the blood and interstitial tissue fluid.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel lactation treatment composition which helps eliminate the problems of intestinal stasis or constipation.
These and further objects and advantages of the present invention will become clearer in light of the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of this invention.